1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention generally relate to power management systems and, more specifically, to a smart power management system that initiates a voluntary reduction in overall power consumption in response to one or more detected conditions and further predicts the occurrence of such conditions in order to take preparatory actions.
2. Description of the Related Art
As demands for electricity increase, the ability of the existing power infrastructure to service high loads becomes more tentative. The impacts of such high loads can be felt in many ways, depending upon whether the load is near or exceeds the capacity of the power infrastructure. For example, as the load nears capacity the backup power sources (e.g., coal or diesel fired generators) can be brought on-line, however, such backup power sources are typically less efficient and bad for the environment. Also, as the load nears capacity (e.g., during known peak use periods), the cost to consumer can be increased. Thus, if power usage remains high during peak load/peak cost periods, prohibitive expense can be incurred and environmental impact realized. As the load reaches or exceeds capacity, “brownouts” can occur (i.e., the supply voltage can be reduced). At the extreme, “blackouts” can occur (i.e., all power can be switched off). If “brownouts” or “blackouts” are experienced, the impact to electrical systems can be catastrophic (e.g., loss of data, corruption of data, system failure, etc.).
To address such concerns, power management techniques have been developed that allow users to initiate a voluntary and, optionally, automatic reduction in power consumption in response to one or more detected conditions within their local domain/grid. Such a voluntary reduction in power consumption is used to avoid the negative impact of high loads (i.e., to avoid high power cost, negative environmental impact, brownouts, and ultimately blackouts) and will hereafter be referred to as a “greenout”. Unfortunately, reactionary “greenouts” can also have negative consequences. Thus, it would be advantageous over the prior art to provide a power management system that can not only initiate a “greenout” to avoid the impact of high loads, but can predict the initiation of such a “greenout” and take preparatory action to avoid and/or limit any negative impact that may be caused by the “greenout”.